Their Side of the Story
by ShrugDuckie
Summary: It's the end of fifth year and Harry isn't the only one that's dealing with loss and pain, his closest friends are suffering too. Story starts in the hospital wing. First fic, please review. Now COMPLETE!
1. A Necessary Conversation

Disclaimer: I LOVE HARRY, wish he was mine, but he's JKR's so…yeah…too bad for me! *goes and sobs in the corner over her not-owning-Harry-ness* 

Chapter One: A Necessary Conversation

"Bye Harry!" Ginny called.

But he had already turned and gone.

The group of five looked at each other worriedly. They sat in silence for a minute, before Hermione spoke up.

"Do you – er – do you think he'll be alright?" she asked quietly.

"No," answered Ron, still staring at the door, "and he won't be. Not for a while anyway."

Hermione stared at Ron. He had large bags under his eyes and his hair was untidy. It looked as if the only reason he was still awake was the energy from the chocolate frogs he continued to stuff in his mouth. Perhaps he couldn't sleep either…

Ginny flopped back on Hermione's bed where she had been sitting. Her eyes were shut very tight, as if she thought maybe if she opened them again that they would all be in a different place and the events of the past few days wouldn't have happened.

"I'm sure Harry will be fine," Luna Lovegood said in her dreamy voice from behind _The Quibbler_. "The pain will leave him eventually."

Ron looked kind of angry that she was treating the matter so delicately, but Hermione caught his eye and gave him a look that said something like, "Save it."

"I feel like…well…nevermind," Neville injected lamely. He was sitting in a chair in between Ron and Hermione's beds in the Hospital Wing. He looked just as depressed as everyone there felt – except maybe Luna, who seemed perfectly fine.

"Like what Neville?" asked Hermione, massaging her sore ribs carefully.

"Like, it's kind of my fault that all this happened," he said, staring at the floor and blushing slightly. "I mean, I broke the Prophecy…"

The group, all except Luna, who was entranced by her magazine, busted out telling Neville how wrong he was, how it wasn't his fault any more than anyone else's, but Neville just shook his head and continued to stare at the floor.

"I like the idea of it being my fault more than Harry's," he answered them.

"It isn't Harry's fault either," said Ginny with a sigh, still lying flat on her back. Then she added, "God, I wish there was something we could do for him. He can't get a break can he?"

Luna said something or other, Ron didn't quite hear. He was watching Hermione stare out the window, biting her lip as if trying not to cry. He felt himself wishing that he hadn't gotten in the way of that curse in the Department of Mysteries, then when Hermione had nearly gotten killed, he could've done something more then laugh like a lunatic. He could have been her hero…

It wasn't the first time Ron had thought this since they had come back from their adventures at the Ministry of Magic. And he felt guilty every time the thoughts ran through his head. Here he was, days after Sirius had died, when Harry needed him, when they had all nearly gotten killed, wishing that he could've grasped the chance to show Hermione how much she meant to him. But no, he was always in a deep sleep in the bottom of a lake, or lying in the Hospital Wing with a broken leg, or under some crazy spell that made him see everything so lightly, and Harry always got to do the saving. But then he remembered where Harry stood in the big scheme of things, and felt grateful for what he had.

"The best thing we can do for Harry is just be here when he wants us to be, and let him have time to himself when he needs it," Ginny was saying. "It's all we can do for him."

Just then Madam Pomfrey came bustling out of her office, looking stressed as usual.

"All right, everyone who isn't a patient of mine at the present moment needs to leave immediately!" she said sternly. "Chop, chop! Get moving! Weasley, how's the ankle? Longbottom, are you still feeling all right? Miss Lovegood – well, er – yeah…"

"My ankles perfect, Madam Pomfrey," Ginny said, getting up from her seat.      

"The side affects of the curse have worn off I think, ma'am," Neville said, getting up quickly and knocking the chair over.

"Life is well, thank you for asking, Madam Pomfrey," Luna said in her goofy tone.

Ginny gave Hermione a quick hug, and then gave Ron one too before exiting with Luna and Neville.

"Time for your two o'clock potion, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey said handing her a glass of a smoking liquid which Hermione stared at revoltingly. "Weasley, am I going to have to confiscate the sweets? You're going to make yourself sick!"

"No, I'll quit eating," said Ron, throwing the wrapper of his tenth chocolate frog in the garbage bin.

"Fine by me," said Madam Pomfrey. Then to Hermione, "Finish all of that potion, Granger, or you'll be up half the night in pain."

As Madam Pomfrey headed back to her office, Hermione muttered something that sounded like, "I think that'll happen anyway," and drank the liquid in one horrible gulp. She gagged.

"Is it that bad?" asked Ron.

"I'll get over it," Hermione replied, setting the glass down on her night table and flopping back on her pillows with a groan of pain.

Ron couldn't bring himself to tell her. They were alone (except for the delusional Umbridge opposite them), which was something that didn't happen often. The common room was so noisy, the library so quiet, and now that they were all alone he couldn't tell her how scared he was when he woke up and she was unconscious next to him. So instead he asked, "How are you doing? Okay?"

Hermione started to nodd her head up and down, her eyes squinted tightly shut like Ginny's had been, but she didn't get through a whole motion before she started shaking her head violently side to side.

Ron checked to see if Madam Pomfrey was looking, and then went and took Ginny's seat on the end of Hermione's bed.

"Can you believe that just a few weeks ago we were worrying about our OWLs?" Hermione said, her face screwed up with the effort of trying not to burst into tears.

"Well, you were worrying, I was something like near a nervous collapse," he said with a small grin.

Hermione let out a small chuckle, and a single tear rolled down her cheek. She opened her eyes and looked at her friend. There was fear and sorrow in her eyes. Yes, she was utterly terrified about what was going to happen to them all. Life had taken a sharp corner, and one of their friends had been thrown off to the side of the road…and the worst part was that they had to leave him behind.

"Do you think he was scared?" she asked, referring to Sirius.

Ron didn't answer right away. But finally he said, "I dunno. I suppose he's happy now. After all, he's back with his best mates again…and he isn't confined to a small space with Kreacher any more-"

"Ron?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna cry now, I just wanted to warn you."

"You didn't have to warn me."

"But I know you hate that."

"I think that's something I'll have to get over, too."

Hermione buried her face in her hands and sobbed uncontolably. Before this point, Ron would've run from the room screaming. But not this time. He squeezed over next to her, and put his arm around her shoulders.

"It's all right, Hermione," he said soothingly. "Just let it out."

She turned and cried into his shoulder, and he put his other arm around her, trying to be a man and not cry himself. Sirius didn't deserve to die. And yet, here he was, holding the girl of his dreams in his arms, getting benefit from his death. 

It was a horrible feeling.

"I'm s-s-sorry," Hermione said after a while. " I-I tried n-n-not to-"

"What are friends for?" Ron answered, rubbing her back.

Hermione had to admit, that sometimes she didn't think Ron was capable of much else but stuffing his face. But there were times when he really came through. She knew that, no matter where this journey would take them, Ron would always be with her, standing at her side until the end.

A girl could _definitely_ do worse. 

"I'm so scared, Ron," said Hermione, trying to dry her eyes on her shirt sleeve, "for all of us. But mostly for Harry. I mean, how much more tragedy can he handle? What will he do if he wakes up one morning and decides that he's just plain had enough? What if he-"

"Hermione!" Ron said, finally getting her to be silent. "Relax! Harry's not going to anything stupid."

"But how do you know that?" she said, tears filling her eyes again. "It's not like he's never done anything stupid before. Remember when we first met Sirius? Harry almost…"

Her voice trailed off.

"Killed him?" Ron said for her, his voice cracking a little in spite of himself. Recovering self-composure, he added, "Honestly, Hermione, we were in third year. You really think Harry was _capable of murder then?"_

"He might've been," she answered. "He just –I dunno- he just gets so angry sometimes…"

"Doesn't he have a right?"         

"This is getting stupid."

"What?"

"This conversation! I mean, Harry went somewhere just now, we don't know where. He'll be fine. He needs to be alone for a while…let off some steam I guess."

They were silent for a minute. 

"Do you want me to go and find him?" asked Ron quietly. He didn't want to leave Hermione, but he didn't want to stay if all they were going to do was worry about Harry. They'd done enough of that for the past few – well – years really. It was time for a break. Even though he felt bad for Harry, he couldn't help thnking about himself some, and what _he_ wanted…

It was really quite unlike him (a/n: if I may say so myself! ^^). 

"I don't know if that would do any good," Hermione said, still shaking a bit with sobs. "I just wish I could wave my wand and make this whole mess go away…it works with everything else."

"Not everything," said Ron, remembering all the times they had fought over the past five years. 

Hermione chuckled, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

"Well, life would be incomplete with out us fighting, wouldn't it?" she said sarcastically, wiping away a few more tears off her cheeks.

"No, life would just be incomplete without you," Ron said.

He took in a sharp breath and he felt his face growing hot. He hadn't meant to say that. Too scared to look at Hermione, he got off the bed and walked toward his own, thinking he'd pretend to fall asleep really quickly.

"Ron," Hermione said, "come back here."

Ron turned around. His face felt like a ball of fire. Hermione's face was still pretty wet from crying, but she was smiling as she tried to dry her eyes. She held her arms open, waiting for a hug.

He stepped forward and hugged her tight. 

"You are really great, you know that?" Hermione asked.

_My face is going to explode_, Ron thought to himself. _My body is going to turn into a mushroom cloud…_

"Well – er – you know, we can talk like this – er – more often if you need to…" he said stupidly.

  
"I know," Hermione said.

They broke apart and Ron sat at the foot of her bed. His face was just starting to return to a normal color when he asked, "So, what do you think we should do…about Harry, I mean?"

Hermione thought for a minute and said, "I think we should find someone else to talk to him. I think he figures one of us will talk to him eventually, but, y'know, we know so much maybe he feels like…I dunno, maybe he just needs someone new to talk to."

"Like who?" Ron asked curiously.

"Well, now this is just a thought," Hermione added as if she thought Ron would object, "I was thinking about maybe Luna Lovegood."

[a/n: okay, that's the end of chapter 1! R&R everyone! The more reviews the sooner the next chapter will come! ^^ thanks everybody! Luv ya!]


	2. A Simple Request

[a/n: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I love ya BlackKat (science is poo!! lyl!), and Alagdalwen (how many times have you watched PotC so far? I'm going on 5! lyl!), and FairySprinkles (I hope you updated and I reeeeeally hope you don't think I'm copying off your fic, cuz I'm not, I can't think of plots that good! ^^ lyl!)! Also sry the last chapter was so long, had to get the story going, this one will be shorter…well maybe you never know! *wink*  Okay, you may continue on, which you've most likely already done anyway! ^.~]

Disclaimer: *looks in the mirror and sees that she is not JK Rowling*…*realizes she doesn't own Harry Potter*…*also realizes she's nowhere NEAR as rich as the queen of England*…*sobs*…

Chapter Two: A Simple Request

It was just after dinner the next day, and Hermione and Ron were still in the hospital wing, feeling a little bit better but still not one hundred percent. They had decided (and that took a long time, Ron wasn't quick to agree as Hermione had guessed) that Luna would be the best person to talk to Harry about how he was feeling ("She'll probably convince him that the best thing he can do for himself is move into the Forbidden Forest and breed thestrals!" Ron had said.). They were going to give Harry a couple days to himself before they actually asked Luna, but the fact that Harry hadn't come to visit them that day worried Hermione so much that Ron said he'd try and find Luna as soon as Madam Pomfrey was occupied.

"Thank you so much, Ron," said Hermione with a yawn as Ron changed into his robes behind a curtain around his bed. "What would I do without?"

"Probably have a few less headaches, that's for sure," Ron replied, finishing dressing and pulling back the curtain.

Hermione chuckled. She was leaning back on her pillows, slowly drifting off to sleep. As Ron sat down on his bed to tie his shoes, he watched her head slowly nod to one side and her breathing becoming long and slow. She was a sight to behold…

As soon as his shoes were safely secured to his feet, Ron looked around Hermione's bed to see if Madam Pomfrey was still busy eating dinner. Seeing that she was, he turned to say goodbye to Hermione, and then remembered she was asleep.

Did that mean he didn't say goodbye? 

Of course not.

He wasn't even paying attention to what he was doing. Before he could even think he was standing right beside her. His mind was spinning. He needed to leave soon, Madam Pomfrey wouldn't eat forever, and he didn't even know where Luna was at the moment. It would take forever to find her. So he made up his mind.

He leaned over and gently kissed her cheek, and then he was in such a hurry getting out of that room that his overlarge feet made a little unnecessary amount of noise, and the door creaked a bit too loudly and shut a smidge too hard. Luckily Madam Pomfrey didn't notice.

But _someone_ did…

Ron made his way down the corridor, his heart racing and his face feeling explosive again.

"I can't _believe_ I did that!" he muttered to himself, feeling like a fool.

_Yes you can,_ said a little voice in the back of his head as he made his way down the stairs.

"Shut up!" Ron said aloud again. "Oh my God…I'm _talking to myself!" he added, shaking his head as if trying to make the voice fall out of his ear and onto the floor._

_CRASH._

He'd run right into someone in his moment of distraction.

"Hey!" someone with a squeaky voice said as they fell down the marble staircase. "Watch it you--"

"_Malfoy?_" said Ron, recognizing the blonde hair and snorting at the squeakiness of his voice. "Heh, I always knew you were a rat, but I never heard you _talk like one before…"_

"Shut it, Weasley!"

Ron found a wand very close to the tip of his nose. 

"I'd just watch my back if I were you, you mudblood-loving---[a/n: you can use your imaginations here folks (lol Kate!)!]---" Malfoy said in a low threatening whisper. "When my father and the others escape from Azkaban, you and you're---[a/n: he's a bit of a potty mouth ain't he? But this is good for our IMAGINATIONAL exercises!]--- Dumbledore fan club will be the first ones they go after."

Ron was clenching his fists so tight he was sure his palms were bleeding. He didn't blink as he pushed Malfoy's wand out of his face and took out his own in one swift movement [a/n: in an Orlando Bloom-ish in PotC (which I don't own!) way…hehehe ^^ *stares at the cover of the DVD box and drools*].

Suddenly, Malfoy took Ron by surprise as he lowered his wand and chuckled, "I don't want to fight you, Weasley. I think knowing I took advantage over a hopeless Gryffindor would just spoil my good mood. You know," he added, chuckling all the more, "I saw Potter _crying his bloody eyeballs out yesterday, all for that good for nothing d-"_

Ron was halfway through yelling a hex when he saw that the wind had been knocked out of Malfoy. He was sure that he hadn't done that, but then…who had?

"Draco!" said a dreamy voice. "How good to see you!"

Luna Lovegood was standing behind Malfoy, hugging him so tightly around the middle that he was in desperate need of oxygen.

"What the---[a/n: lol, this is fun! More imaginational exercises from now on!]---?" Malfoy gasped in his squeaky voice again. "Get OFF of me!!"

"But I missed you!!" Luna insisted, still not letting go.

Ron was so confused his mind couldn't even manage to process this scene. What was Loony Luna hugging the heck out of Draco Malfoy for?

Finally, Malfoy fought his way free of her grasp, pushed her to the floor (where she sat neatly in Indian style with a dreamy grin on her face), and backed away towards the dungeon steps with his wand at the ready in front of him and his hair falling into his eyes. His eyes were large and he was shaking with rage.

"Never….EVER… come NEAR me…again!" Draco said in a crazed tone, and ran off through the dungeon door.

Ron stared at Luna in amazment.

"What the bloody hell was that about?" he asked her with a quizzical look.

"It was obvious wasn't it?" she said clearly, jumping to her feet and neatly dusting off her robes. "You were going to attack Draco! That would have been very, very bad."

Ron threw her another funny glance and said, "You don't _like Malfoy, do you?"_

Luna laughed, "Good heavens no! But with your bad luck, you didn't realize that Professor Snape was on his way out of the Great Hall! He'd have caught you!"

"Wait a minute, he was? How come I didn't see him?" 

"Because I made him turn and go the other way when I came running out here and hugged Draco," Luna said simply, as if it would've been the most obvious thing to do. "Professor Snape is not particularly fond of me…in fact I think he's quite terrified of me. But you know, a lot of people are. I don't mind a bit though."

Ron felt a pang of guilt. He'd always talked so badly about Luna, but her intentions were always good (even if her way of going about solving problems was a little different). In fact, he owed Luna a lot after she saved Ginny's life in the Department of Mysteries.

"Luna, listen," he said quickly. "I need to ask you something. It's just a simple request, but we'd be really grateful if you do this for us. Hermione had the idea of you talking to Harry about how he's feeling right now. He won't talk to us, we're making him feel funny, and I don't really understand how or why but…well, what do you say? Will you talk to him?"

[a/n: Okay, that's the end of chapter 2! What will Luna say?? You know…it may not be exactly what happened in the book…perhaps I'll change it. Ten points that mean absolutely nothing will be given to whoever can guess what happens! Also, I just realized I forgot to say hi to Jessie and Danielle in the opening note dealy: HI JESSIE AND DANIELLE! Jessie, I want your Quidditch shirt really bad, it is SO COOL! Okie, well that's it folks, I promise I'll try and post soon! Luv ya!]


	3. Telling Hermione

[a/n: Okay everyone, it is 2 o'clock in the morning on New Year's Eve and I just finished an amazing book and, after an hour of trying, I have discovered that I CANNOT SLEEP! So I thought I'd do something constructive with my time and write the next chapter of this story. If I can't stay up 'til midnight tonight I'm blaming it on the amazing book I read cuz I seriously can't sleep it was so good!!! Thanks to all my reviewers, especially all the ppl I don't know personally from somewhere or other on this vast planet. I love your reviews sooooooooo much! Seriously. I can't tell you how happy they make me, so thank you. Oh, and I'm incredibly sry for the fluffiness of this chapter. I hate super mushy things, so I'm sry if you find this chapter that way. Okay, this is quite long enough. Thanks for reading every1!]

Disclaimer: I'm gonna try not to cry this time…*deep breath*…*exhale*…ok…I-I..I do-don't o-own *sob* H-H-Harry!!! *breaks down tearfully…aaaaaaaaaagain…*

Telling Hermione

Ron closed the hospital wing door as quietly as he could. Madam Pomfrey was still in her office, though now she looked like she was doing some paperwork. Hopefully she hadn't noticed that he had been gone. Hermione was lying in bed, her chest rising and descending peacefully in sleep. 

He tip-toed over to his bed and pulled the curtains around it shut. After quickly changing back into his pajamas, he slid the curtains back and jumped two feet in the air when he saw Hermione sitting straight up in bed staring at him questionaly. 

"—[a/n: Oh boy!! I just LOVE these imaginational exercises!]—!" he half yelled in surprise. Recovering quickly, he added. "_Don't do that!! I didn't even hear you get up! You scared the –[a/n: if you're getting sick of these IMAGINATIONAL exercises I suggest you get over it, cuz they're way to much fun!]—out of me!"_

"Why? You thought I'd announce to the world, 'Okay, I'm getting up now! Don't be startled to see me sitting up in my own bed?'" she asked him in annoyance. "I'd push back those curtains the rest of the way if I were you. You're very lucky Madam Pomfrey didn't notice you'd left."

"What are you scolding me for?" Ron said, just as irritated and doing as he was told. "It was _your_ idea to go and ask Luna! Not mine!"

"First of all, I didn't scold," Hermione whispered, afraid Madam Pomfrey would be attracted by the aggravation in their voices. "Second of all, I never said that you shouldn't have gone to see Luna. I'm very glad you went, it makes me feel much better about all this. And third of all, what did she say?"

Ron just stared at her.

"I _really_ do not get how you talk that fast," Ron said, sitting down on his bed and removing one of his socks.

Hermione proceeded to throw a pillow at him.

"What did she SAY, you heartless fool?!" she whispered shrilly.

Ron chuckled at her eagerness. She had always been like this. Anything she didn't know, she needed to know immediately if not sooner. That was Hermione's philosophy on life. [a/n: I AM IN NO WAY MAKING FUN OF HER! I love her to pieces, and if I insulted her, I'd be insulting myself cuz I'm a lot like her...*ahem*...sry just needed to clear that up...^.~]

"She said she'd be...oh what were her exact words again...I don't remember but she said something about being 'happier to talk to Harry for us  than she would be if she found a way to cure Nargle poisoning,'" Ron replied, laughing at Luna's insanity. [a/n: I AM IN NO WAY MAKING FUN OF HER EITHER! I know a lot of ppl hate her, but I love her too and if I insulted her I'd, once again, be insulting myself cuz I _totally have a Gryffindor Lion hat the roars and a pair of radish earrings...well, okay not really. But I DO envy her for having them and every time I go to the mall I look for a pair of earrings like that...*sigh* They never have any in stock...]_

"So does that mean she'll talk to him?" Hermione asked, sounding hopeful.

"I _think_ so," Ron said. "I don't speak Luna-ese."

"Oh, this is great!" Hermione said happily. She felt like a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. If she and Ron couldn't talk to Harry, she knew somebody needed to. She was so relieved, she thought she would've kissed Ron if she'd been able to stand up.

Pity she couldn't. [a/n: I really really really REALLY wanted to put that in, but then I remembered she was hurt and Ron doesn't seem to be the kind of guy who would jump up and kiss a girl when he's busy taking off his socks. I love him more than I love anyone else in the books and I'd jump in the book and marry him if I wasn't so sure he and Hermione were meant to be together, but yeah, he has his socks to tend to at the moment...okay, these notes are getting in the way of the story, so I'll shut up! *runs a huge zipper across her lips*]

"Yeah, it'd better be for what I had to give her in return," Ron muttered, not intending Hermione to hear.

"Really? She wanted something?" Hermione replied, her ears working quite fine. "Well, I half expected she might. So how much did you have to pay her?"

"How _much?_" Ron said, looking at her as though she was dressed as the Easter bunny walking around the mall during Christmastime. "You're talking to a _Weasley, Hermione. I don't have any more money than the giant squid!"_

"Well, than what did you give Luna?" Hermione asked, completely oblivious as to where this conversation was going. 

Ron turned a nice shade of magenta, crawled under his covers, turned his back to her, and muttered something about not wanting to talk about it.

"Oh c'mon, Ron!" Hermione laughed. "How bad could it b-"

She stopped in her moment of realization and smiled a smile of victory.

"Ron?" she said, trying not to laugh. "She didn't ask you to _kiss_ her, did she?"

Ron's ears positively glowed red like a light atop a Christmas tree. Hermione stuffed a pillow in her face to drown out her giggling. She had suspected from the train ride into Hogwarts that year that Luna just might have feelings for Ron, and the thought of those two together somehow struck her as hilarious.

"It wasn't _funny,_ okay?" Ron said, getting up and glaring at her. "I only did it because I knew she wouldn't leave me alone _or_ talk to Harry unless I did." A moment later he added, "And she promised to stop liking me if I kissed her. _And, _in a way, I did it for you."

Hermione actually _snorted_ at that one.

"Well, I did!" Ron said, rolling back over and feeling humiliated.

"Oh _please,_ Ron," Hermione said, removing the pillow from her face as the humor left their conversation. "Explain to me how you kissed another girl '_for me?'"_

Without rolling over, Ron replied in a perfectly normal voice, "Because I knew it was the only way she'd talk to Harry, and she needs to talk to Harry because it's the only way you'll feel better about all this. You care about Harry and how he's doing and I knew you would've asked Luna yourself if you'd been able to. I knew you'd have done whatever it took and, well, I figured, so should I."

Hermione was completely silent. She couldn't laugh at that. She could not laugh at Ron, who had done something he _certainly would never have done unless his two best friends really needed him to._

And they really, _really _needed him to.

"Ron, will you please get up and come over here?" Hermione asked him. "I can't get up and I need to give you a hug. It's very important."

Ron sighed and a second later found himself in another hug from Hermione. 

He had _nev_er_ felt so incredibly lucky in his life._

When Hermione finally let him go, she totally forgot herself and gave Ron a kiss on the cheek. [a/n: *unzips her mouth* HAHA! I tricked you, you silly ppl! You KNEW I'd find a way to get that in there! MWHAHAHAHAAHAHA! *zips her mouth shut again*] Both blushed in spite of themselves.

"I'm sorry," Hermione said. "I shouldn't have done that."

"Why not?" Ron asked, not at all regretful.

"Because--" Hermione said, scrambling for an excuse. "I dunno. Maybe the fact that we're just friends?"

She regretted those words the minute she said them. Some of the sparkle left Ron's eyes and he stopped blushing.

"Yeah, I guess so."

And with that he returned to his bed with every intention of going to sleep.

"Ron?" 

"What?"

"Can I ask you one more thing?"

"What?" he said, opening his eyes hopefully.

"When is Luna going to talk to Harry?"

Ron sighed and shut his eyes again as he replied, "The day of the end-of-term feast." He was snoring about thirty seconds later.

Hermione decided she too should be getting some sleep, so she replaced the pillow she had used to stifle her laughter earlier and lied back down. A lot of things were spinning through her head as she drifted off to sleep, most were about the conversation she had just had with Ron and about Ron in general. But the last thing that went through her mind was this:

_Now is not the time._

[a/n: I apologize if that last part makes no sense, but just think about it a minute and maybe you'll get it. I doubt it, since I tend to make no sense whatsoever. I'll tally up the "ten points that mean nothing at all" and post them along with the next chapter. If you don't get that either, see the note at the end of the last chapter. Thanks for reading every1, I'll try my best to post soon! Luv u all!] 


	4. Yet Another Argument

[a/n: Hello you wonderful readers! Alagdalwen and FairySprinkles each received that "ten points that mean nothing at all" for guessing wut Luna would say in the last chapter, and FairySprinkles and Noodlez (and BlackKat was pretty close) figured out what I meant at the end of the last chapter! Such smart cookies! *hands FairySprinkles, BlackKat, and Noodlez a cookie* Don't be mad at me, Noodlez, about the Hermione thing, you'll see what I've got cooking soon *hint hint* Also, towards the end, I use stuff directly out of the 5th book, so DON'T SUE ME! Okay I've got to get writing, thanks a bunch for the reviews every1! Read read read!]

Disclaimer: *speaks quickly* Harry-Potter-and-all-his-friends-are-not-mine! *runs out of room quickly so she doesn't cry in front of every1...yet again...(I'm starting to annoy myself with all this crying...oh well! ^^)*

Chapter 4: Yet Another Argument

Three days before the end of term, Ron and Hermione found themselves completely cured and heading back to Gryffindor Tower. They were silent as their footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, and were still not quite awake, as it was early morning. Finally Hermione spoke.

"Have you spoken to Luna lately?" she asked.

Ron's expression remained stony as he replied, "No."

After a few more silent seconds she added, "Maybe we should _try to talk to Harry ourselves."_

"What?! After all I had to do to get Luna to talk to him?! No way! Just let Luna handle him!" he said angrily, walking a bit faster in hopes that Hermione would leave him alone. 

"But look how long she's waiting!" Hermione said, running to keep up with him. "Was it her idea to wait until the last day of term? How do we know we can trust her?"

"TRUST HER?!" Ron roared, stopping dead in his tracks and causing Hermione to run into him and fall over. "_Trust her?! In case you've forgotten, it was__ your idea to _trust her_! NOT MINE! Therefore, you are out of line telling me what we should do!"_

And with that he stormed off, leaving Hermione sitting on the floor. He was—in the nicest terms—not happy with her, and she knew it [a/n: how could she NOT know?! he just knocked her over and left her sitting on the floor! she'd be quite un-smart NOT to know! get with it, silly people!]. 

_He wants exactly what I want_, she thought to herself. _And he's pissed that he can't have it now. [_---O BOY! an imaginational name to call Ron! your imaginations will be such wonderful things when this story is over! i didn't WANT her to call him a name, but u kno, that's out of my hands!_---]!_

"Ron!" she yelled, waking a few more innocent bystanders. "Ron, slow down you big buffoon [a/n: i feel like having a fun vocabulary today!]! I don't think you understand what I'm saying to you! Harry's gonna think we've gone off the deep end if we don't try to talk to him about it!"

"No, he won't!" Ron said, stopping, spinning around, and speaking in a threatening whisper. "He doesn't _want to talk about it, Hermione, and I'm not about to __force him! And if that's what you're about to do, then you aren't a very good '_friend'_ are you?"_

That one hurt.

"I know why you're mad, Ron, could we fight about it later?" Hermione hissed, blushing as Professor Flitwick peaked his head out of his office to see what the yelling was about. He grinned and muttered something that had the word "cute" in it as he closed his door.

Ron looked—again, in nicest terms—rather angry and humiliated as he responded, "Whatever. It's not like I _enjoy_ fighting with you. It's just my natural reflex."

"I know, I know," Hermione said as they resumed walking. "This really sucks."

"Tell me about it," Ron agreed.

As they reached the Fat Lady, Ron stopped before saying the password.

"Seriously, don't say anything to Harry about Sirius," he said.

"You don't have to, but I fully intend to."

"Hermione!"

She entered the portrait hole and could not be persuaded otherwise. Ron followed her and saw that Harry was the only one in the common room this early. He didn't have the heart to argue with her in front of him. Not under the circumstances.

"Hey guys," Harry said in a groggy voice that indicated lack of sleep. "Feeling better?"

"We're fine, Harry, how are you doing?" Hermione said, trying to sound normal and failing. "You look tired."

Harry simply stared out the window. "I had a dream, and I couldn't go back to sleep."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Hermione asked. Ron took the time to cough something that sounded an awful lot like, "_Pushing it!"_

"No, I'm okay," Harry said, getting up out of his chair. "I'm glad you two are back."

"Us too," Ron said, recovering from his "coughing fit". "Let's go get some breakfast, I'm starving."

And with that, the three friends went down to the Great Hall in silence. The second they sat down at the Gryffindor table, twenty pairs of eyes flew in Harry's direction. Ron took the time to send them a rather rude signal to stop it, which caused Hermione to take the time to glare and smack his arm [a/n: LOL].

Harry didn't eat much and left before Ron and Hermione saying he had to send an owl. They knew the only person he ever really sent owls to was Sirius, and that he just needed some time alone. He left the Great Hall as Luna was entering. Hermione kicked Ron under the table and nodded in her direction.

"Luna!" Ron yelled to get her attention. She spotted him and ran over to the pair, radish earrings swinging back and forth [a/n: WHY, God, WHY have you cursed me with only ORDINARY earrings?!].

"Greetings!" she said in a chipper voice. 

"Luna," Hermione asked, not able to keep quiet. "Why are you waiting so long to talk to Harry? We're really worried about him, and we don't think he wants to talk to us."

Luna gazed at Hermione curiously.

"You've never lost anyone that close to you before, have you?" Luna said, more like a statement than a question. Hermione shook her head as Luna went on, "You need time. Harry needs some time to accept what's happened before he can talk about it. That's what I needed when my mother died."

Hermione was very quiet as she said, "I'm sorry. I was wondering if maybe that was why you could see the thestrals."

"Yes," Luna said, eyeing none other than Ernie Macmillan as he entered the Great Hall. "Well, I can assure you, I will talk to him soon. Most likely the last day of term. Farewell to you both. I'm famished."

As she ran over to say her "greetings" to Ernie on her way to the Ravenclaw table, Ron said to Hermione, "Listen, about earlier—"

"It's alright," Hermione said, taking a drink of pumpkin juice. "Forget about it."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Their last evening at school had arrived; most people had already finished packing and were already heading down to the end of term feast, but Harry had not even started.

"Just do it tomorrow!" Ron said, hungry. "C'mon, I'm starving..."

"I won't be long...Look, you go ahead..."

Ron, feeling glad their plan had worked, headed down the stairs to find Hermione waiting for him. 

"Is he staying?" she asked.

"Yeah," he replied.

They stood there for a minute, staring at the floor or out the window lost in thought. Soon they realized they needed to be getting to the feast, but as they headed toward the portrait hole, they heard the sound of glass shattering upstairs.

"What was that?" Hermione asked, staring at the boy's staircase with worry in her eyes.

"C'mon, Hermione," Ron said, ushering her out of the portrait hole with a grim expression on his face. "He'll be fine."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Luna Love good busied herself fastening a notice to a board on the wall when she saw Harry coming around the corner. 

"Hello," she said.

[a/n: thats the end of this one, everybody! *sniffle* it made me quite sad. i don't like this chapter at all, so review me and let me kno if you liked it. i shall update soon, maybe tomorrow if i feel like it. thanks for reading, i luv ya!]


	5. Many Favors

[a/n: YAY! Chapter 5! WAHOO! *jubilation* I've decided to take advantage of my snow day and post more, you lucky ducks! Okay, I have some BIG thanks you's to say, so if you don't feel like reading them, skip on ahead! Enjoy the chappie, Luna's Pov, dialogue is right out of the book! I tried to write this whole story, especially this chapter, as close to the book as possible. Please don't sue me.]

Many thanks to....

Greywind: WOW! *happy tears* Thank you so so so so so so much! Your compliments really mean a lot to me. Oh, and there will be ABSOLUTELY NO HARRY/LUNA! thats just gross! I'm 100% Harry/Ginny and Ron/Hermione! You'll never see otherwise in my fics! ^.~  

malexandria: Thanks a bunch! I realize the thing about my "Imaginational Exercises" but like I said, they are fun! ^.~ Also the thing about not many reviews is I suck at summaries, so this looks like a dumb story to most (can't say I blame them if they think it's dumb!). Thanks for reading! ^^

Purple Rose Fairy and Brittney-Btrflies: Thanks to you guys, bcuz I don't know you personally and you are not being conned into reading this. I luv ya! ^.~

Disclaimer: *is in such a chipper mood because of the nice reviews that she isn't gonna cry today* I love Harry, but he's not mine! *many cheers heard across the country* thank you, thank you! *bowing graciously* 

Chapter Five: Many Favors

Luna didn't look at Harry too long because she didn't want to appear obvious and she was trying to make sure her note was straight on the board. Harry looked terrible, to say the least. The light in his eyes appeared to have been extinguished and his expression was one of great disappointment.

"How come you're not at the feast?" Harry asked.

"Well, I've lost most of my possessions," she replied. "People take them and hide them, you know. But, as it's the last night, I really do need them back, so I've been putting up signs."

This actually was true. She was thinking ahead when she was figuring out how she was going to bump into Harry, and figured, if he decided to do any sleuthing in the matter, she'd better have a real excuse to be outside Gryffindor Tower. So she gave two second years 2 sickles each to hide her things. She was proud of her cleverness. [a/n: she's an odd one, ain't she? *still jealous over earring matter*]

Harry's face looked a little less-depressing then. He looked more concerned now.

"How come people hide your stuff?" he asked her with a frown.

"Oh...well..." Giving herself more time to think she shrugged. "I think they think I'm a bit odd, you know. Some people call me 'Loony' Lovegood, actually."

Another actual fact. It was a good thing Luna didn't care what people thought of her, or this would have been an even more depressing conversation.

"That's no reason for them to take your things," Harry said, looking at Luna with a face full of utmost pity. "D'you want help finding them?"

"Oh no," Luna smiled. "They'll come back, they always do in the end. It was just that I wanted to pack tonight. Anyway...why aren't _you at the feast?"_

He shrugged. "Just didn't feel like it."

"No," Luna thought aloud, remembering what Ron had told her about Harry's current state of mind. "I don't suppose you do." Thinking she might as well not beat around the Horky Snout bush [a/n: LOL!], she added, "That man the Death Eaters killed was your godfather, wasn't he? Ginny told me."

He nodded, looking sad, but a little less so if that made any sense. 

_Maybe he'll remember that I can see the thestrals,_ Luna thought,_ and feel a little more comfortable talking about Stubby Boardman. Shame he had to pretend to be Sirius Black, I thought Stubby was rather good-looking._

"Have you..." he started. "I mean, who...has anyone you've known ever died?"

"Yes," Luna said, remembering the experience, "my mother. She was a quite extraordinary witch, you know, but she did like to experiment and one of her spells went rather badly wrong one day. I was nine."

"I'm sorry," Harry mumbled.

"Yes, it was rather horrible," Luna continued normally, although the awful feeling of emptiness was still fresh in her mind. "I still feel very sad about it sometimes. But I've still got Dad. And anyway, it's not as thought I'll never see Mum again, is it?"

"Er—isn't it?" Harry said confusedly.

It was then Luna realized why Harry was in such great despair. Losing someone is one thing, but thinking you've lost them forever is something totally different. He needed to know Stubby wasn't really gone, that he was still watching over Harry even as they spoke.

Shaking her head, she said, "Oh, come on. You heard them, just behind the veil, didn't you?"

"You mean..." said Harry, beginning to understand.

"In that room with the archway. They were just lurking out of sight, that's all. You heard them."

Luna took a second to smile as Harry as he put two and two together.

"Are you sure you don't want me to help you look for your stuff?" Harry asked with the air of one returning a favor.

"Oh no," Luna said. "No, I think I'll just go down and have some pudding, and wait for it all to turn up....It always does in the end." With the thought of _mission accomplished _on her mind, she added,"Well, have a nice holiday, Harry."

"Yeah...yeah, you too." 

And she turned and walked down the corridor, feeling extremely helpful and happy.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"How'd it go?" Ron asked Luna the second she walked into the Great Hall.

"Just fine," Luna said, helping herself to some of the Gryffindor's pudding. "I think he'll be okay."

"What happened?" Hermione asked worriedly.

In between bits of the delicious dessert, Luna recounted hers and Harry's conversation.

"Wow," said Hermione. "Thank you, Luna...and—I'm very sorry about your mother. Is that why you can see the thestrals?"

Luna nodded, swallowing the last of the mouth-watering pudding.

"Er—this is a bit off subject," Ron injected, "but what do they look like, thestrals?"

Hermione smacked Ron's arm and Luna laughed while thinking of what to say.

"They're beautiful," Luna said finally.

Ron looked a bit doubtful, but then again, he didn't really understand. [a/n: it's okay, Ron, I still love you!!! ^.~]

"Thank you again, Luna," Hermione said seriously.

"Not a problem," Luna said.

With that she stood up and headed over to the Ravenclaw table, her mind buzzing with memories.

[a/n: *sniffle* I MISS MY SNUFFLES!!! *sob sob* Anyway, what did you think? Good? Bad? Not liking how I use JKR's dialogue? Where my little comments less annoying this time? Review and tell me! Next chapter will be the last, so I'll try to make it good! Thanks so much every1! lyl!]


	6. Glorious Hope

[a/n: *singing one of her favorite songs, slightly altered* this-is-the last chapteeeer! a lot of you have reviewed saying you want me to go on, but I'm sry to say I just can't do that. I really don't like fics that are supposed to be like "OotP continued", bcuz that book hasn't even been written yet! I don't want to go on, cuz that's JK Rowling's job. just my personal view on the matter, no offense to anyone who's written a "6th book fic". on the contrary, if you've written one and I've reviewed you, you should be quite flattered since I don't usually do that ^.~ I really hope you guys like this chapter, and thank you SO MUCH for reading my story! you're the best, I love you all!!]

Disclaimer: *sniffle sob whine* I don't own—*breaks down sobbing*—Harry Potter!!! *runs off to the side and everyone groans at her sniffling* Oh, and I don't own the brief clip of "The Last Song" that I point in the note above either! *everyone is surprised by the sudden chipper-ness in the author's voice* Enjoy the chappie! ^.~

Chapter Six: Glorious Hope  

"---[always great to start out the chapter with an Imaginational Exercise, ain't it?]---" said Ron, rounding the corner on the Hogwarts Express. He'd just gotten off prefect duty, and he was watching Ernie Macmillan, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Harry hoisting three slugs in Hogwarts robes onto the luggage racks. "What're you three doing?!"

"Just making sure Malfoy and his cronies don't become a fire hazard!" said Justin, cheerfully, helping Harry load the last slug onto the top rack.

Ernie took a moment to explain to Ron that Malfoy had been planning on starting a fight with Harry when he foolishly walked past a compartment full of D.A. members, who then wasted no time hexing the---[sry, I have to get a lot of these exercise in! itz the last chappie after all! ^.~]---out of them.

"I must say, I'm looking forward to seeing Malfoy's mother's face when he gets of the train," Ernie concluded.

"Goyle's mum'll be really pleased, though," Ron commented with a glance at the slugs. "He's loads better-looking now....anyway, Harry, the food trolley's just stopped if you want anything..."

"Thanks, mate," Harry said with a grin. "I'm starving! Thanks for your help guys."

"No problem!" said Justin, returning to his compartment.

"Have a good holiday, Harry!" Ernie said, following his friend.

Harry slide open the compartment door across from them, revealing Ginny, Neville, and Hermione. Even though she was thoroughly reading the _Daily Prophet_, she took a moment to look up and smile at Harry and Ron. Ron winked back. [a/n: ain't he just the cutest thing?! ^^ *huggles Ron*]

"We'll take a load of Pumpkin Pasties and Cauldron Cakes if you've got any," Harry said to the cheerful trolley witch as Ron took his seat beside Hermione.

"He's okay, then?" Hermione whispered in his ear as Harry paid the witch.

"He's fine, Hermione," Ron whispered back with a smile.

She grinned and accepted a cake from Harry, putting the _Prophet down for a minute. Ron would've put his arm around her, except his little sister was in the compartment and she would've told everyone back at the Burrow. Taking his eyes off Hermione, he glanced briefly at Ginny, who was still entranced by her quiz but a smile was playing on her lips. Ron took the moment to kick her while no one was paying attention._

_She's too smart for her own good,_ Ron thought angrily, stuffing a pasty in his mouth.

"How 'bout a game of chess, Ron?" Harry asked, pulling out a set.

"Sure," said Ron through a mouthful of sweets.

Halfway through their second game, Hermione read allowed, "Listen to this! It's a letter from a reader. 'Last night, a tall figure in a dark cloak was prowling outside my garden fence. At first I thought it was one of the nearby muggles coming by to destroy my precious Flutterby bushes'"—Neville clutched his _Milbulus mimbletonia_ protectively at this sentence—"'but when I went to investigate I discovered that it was a fully grown man with pale skin.' As if every person who happens to walk by your house is Voldemort! Honestly..."

"Well," said Harry, looking distant and staring out the window, "it could've been."

Ron and Hermione shared a nervous glance and looked back at Harry. He was sitting right in front of them, but he looked to very far away. Hermione decided it was time to put the paper down.

"It hasn't really started yet," sighed Hermione in a distressed voice as she folded up the _Prophet_. "But it won't be long now..."

"Hey, Harry," said Ron, looking around for a change of subject and his eyes landing on Cho Chang in the hall. Harry glanced up and she must've seen him, because she turned a nice shade of magenta (even nicer than Ron's lovely show back in the hospital wing!) and stalked away. Ron took the advantage to demolish one of Harry's pawns.

"What's—er—going on with you and her anyway?" Ron asked in a small voice, curiosity getting the best of him. He couldn't help but notice that Ginny's eyes had stopped moving across the page of her magazine, even though she put on quite a show pretending she was still interested in the magazine. He immediately took back the comment about Ginny's intelligence he had thought earlier in the day.

"Nothing," said Harry simply.

"I—er—I heard she's going out with someone else now," Hermione said in the same small voice. [a/n: that's so funny how JKR put their "er's" in the same place in the sentence! lol, I never noticed that before! those two are so funny! ^.~]

Harry didn't look like this news greatly punctured him, but he got really quiet. He got the same glazed, distant look on his face again. Ron needed to break the silence.

"You're well out of it, mate," he said forcefully. "I mean, she's quite good-looking and all that, but you want someone a bit more cheerful."

"She's probably cheerful enough with someone else," Harry said with a shrug.

"Who's she with now anyway?" Ron asked Hermione.

"Michael Corner," Ginny replied, her eyes now moving again across her magazine.

"Michael—but—" Ron said, feeling a great surprise and relief flooding his insides. "But you were going out with him!"

"Not any more," Ginny said, looking up. She explained to them how her and Michael had broken up, and then went back to her answers like she had just been telling them it was going to rain next Tuesday.

"Well, I always thought he was a bit of an idiot," Ron said, feeling happier than he had been in a while and triumphantly destroying Harry's rook. "Just choose someone—better—next time."

He glanced at Harry and back at Ginny, hoping she would catch his drift.

"Well, I've chosen Dean Thomas, would you say he's better?" asked Ginny in the same tone, not bothering to look up.

"WHAT?!" Ron shouted, causing all the wildlife in the compartment (Crookshanks, Hedwig, and Pigwidgeon) to go nuts.

Hermione chuckled and patted his hand saying, "Let it go, Ron!"

Against his better judgment, Ron was silent about it the rest of the trip.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"Ron, Ginny!" 

As they walked through the barrier, Mrs. Wealsey rushed forward and hugged all her children—which meant Ginny, Ron, Harry, and Hermione. [a/n: they're like honorary Weasley's after all! ^.~] While she was talking to Harry, Hermione hugged her parents and Ron admired Fred and George's new dragon skin suits.

"Well, we thought we might have a little chat with your aunt and uncle before letting them take you home," Ron heard Lupin say to Harry.

"I dunno if that's a good idea," Harry said quickly.

"Oh, I think it is," Moody growled with pleasure. "That'll be them, will it, Potter?"

And the two friends stood and laughed out loud as Moody, Mr. Weasley, Tonks, and Lupin threatened the Dursleys. It was quite a pleasant sight to see...

"So, Potter...give us a shout if you need us," Moody inquired, turning away from a fairly terrified Uncle Vernon. "If we don't hear from you for three days in a row, we'll send someone along..."

While Aunt Petunia whimpered in fear of what the neighbor's would think if these people showed up at her house, Moody shook Harry's hand in farewell.

"Take care, Harry," Lupin said quietly. "Keep in touch."

"Harry, we'll have you away from there as soon as we can," Mrs. Weasley said, hugging him tight.

"We'll see you soon, mate," said Ron, shaking Harry's hand.

"Really soon, Harry," Hermione said, hugging him as well. "We promise."

Harry nodded, and there was a smile on his face as he waved goodbye and walked out of the station into the sunlit street, with the crazy muggles hurrying along in his wake.

Hermione and Ron both found themselves watching their friend. Both were wondering the same exact thing: would he ever be okay again?

"He'll be okay, Hermione," Ron said as tears came into her eyes. "He still has us."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed. "He does."

And they looked at each other, fear and a deep understanding in their gaze. Then, before either realized what they were doing, Hermione had thrown her arms around Ron and Ron was hugging her tighter than he'd ever hugged anyone in his lifetime.

"This is all going to work out, Hermione," Ron promised her. "We'll be okay."

"I know we will," Hermione whispered. "I'll send you an owl when I can come back to the headquarters, okay?"

"Okay," Ron said, finally releasing her. "I'll see you soon, then?"

"Definitely," she said, grinning. "See you, Ron."

"Bye, Hermione."

With that, Ron watched Hermione walk out of the station, one arm around each of her parents. At the beginning, Ron wasn't quite sure he'd be able to do this all by himself. But he had Hermione, and as far as he was concerned, that was eqivilant to all the treasures the world could ever hold.

They were all going to make it through this.

As he turned around to leave with his own family, he saw Fred and George grinning at him mischievously, Ginny covering her mouth with her hand trying not to giggle, and Mrs. Weasley sighing happily and starring at her son proudly.

"Shut up, you lot!" Ron threatened. 

But then again, he couldn't quite help smiling a bit himself.

~*~*~*~*~The End~*~*~*~*~

[a/n: I am crying so hard right now!!! I had to read most of the last chapter to get the dialogue and now I'm—*sniffle* Ah, but alas, this is the end of my fic! What d'you think? When I started writing it, it was with the intention of writing a sort of hidden part of book 5, since JK Rowling didn't really talk about wut happened with Ron and Hermione too much at the end of the book (and she had a good reason! *sob sob*). I hope I achieved my goal and most of all I hope you enjoyed the story. Thanks so much guys! Be looking for my newest fic! I've already written 2 chapters...MWHAHAHA! The return of the IMAGINATIONAL EXERCISES! WAHOO!]


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